In game of names, Pimpri-Chinchwad seeks its identity from MahaMetro

I t’s all in the name for residents of Pimpri-Chinchwad who have woken up to the fact that the Metro rail service that will run through the twin towns has been christened Pune Metro project, ignoring the geography it will cover.

The issue has now been taken up by the political brigade who are driven enough to draw the attention of even Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to the matter. It has also sent officials at Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MahaMetro) into a huddle seeking legal opinion on the situation.

So strong are the sentiments at play that the residents are all set to start a protest regarding this from Monday, on different platforms, be it social media, the fourth estate, taking to the streets or appealing to the prime minister and chief minister.

Sudhir Deshmukh, a member of Pimpri-Chinchwad Federation of Co-operative Housing Society, who is part of the campaign, pointed out, “Pimpri-Chinchwad is separate entity from Pune. It has its own civic body. The identity of the historic twin-towns has to be reflected on each and every project taken up here.”

In the face of this strong demand, Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) has sprung into action on the issue. It will be taken up at the general body meeting of the civic body coming up on December 20, to which even the MahaMetro officials have been summoned.

Work on the 16.589-km Pimpri-Swargate line has already begun. Of this approximately 8 km elevated stretch between Pimpri and Harris Bridge at Dapodi, falls within the PCMC limt. In fact, the route has been extended further up to Nigdi recently. PCMC will be pitching over Rs 350 crore to part-fund the length of the rail infrastructure that comes within its jurisdiction.

In the light of these facts, the residents and their political representatives are feeling slighted by the absence of any mention of the twin-towns in the project’s name. “Our demand is not emotional but logical. The civic body is going to spend hundreds of crore on the project. The first phase of the project has started from here in the absence of any complication over land acquisition, unlike the situation at our counterpart. We are also going to contribute most of the commuters to make the project financially viable,” argued Deshmukh.

Vilas Medigeri, member of the standing committee and local corporator, who was first to raise the issue before the civic body, underscored, “Pimpri-Chinchwad has its own identity. Why should the metro projects name be restricted to only Pune. It is the name on the official website, barricades, logos and boards installed to inform about the project. The views of our civic body was not taken into consideration while naming the project. The name should be Pune-Pimpri-Chinchwad MahaMetro project.”

Endorsing the demand, the mayor of Pimpri-Chinchwad, Rahul Jadhav, noted, “The city has a population of 22 lakh. It has established its global identity with the presence of IT and automotive MNC majors such as Daimler AG (makers of Mercedes Benz), General Motors, Volkswagen, Tata Motors, TCS, Infosys among others. So why are we absent in the name of such a prestigious project being implemented within our city?” He added that they are moving to red flag the issue with the highest authorities. “We will hand over a memorandum on behalf of the citizens, to the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister, when they come on Tuesday for the foundation stone laying ceremony for the Hinjawadi-Shivajinagar metro route,” he informed.

The brouhaha has left the officials at MahaMetro in a bind. “While we received the communication about the demand, the name of Pune Metro is already registered as a special purpose vehicle (SPV), jointly owned by the union government and the state government. It will be a tedious task to rename the project and the company. However, we always welcome the view of the common people to make the project a success. Accordingly, we’ve posted our senior-most officials on the issue and are also taking legal opinion from experts to find a way out of the situation,” said Hemant Sonawane, general manager of MahaMetro.

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